Djup Strupe and the future Saab time line

UPDATED below – Djup Strupe (that’s Swedish for “Deep Throat”, the name for our secret Saab insider) has been in touch recently and provided me with the following Saab future model news. I should mention that this comes direct from one of Saab’s major markets. Whilst timing may differ for other markets, seeing this is one of Saab’s top 6 markets, it shouldn’t differ too much for most. There’s good news and there’s bad news. I’ll give my thoughts on which is which afterwards. —— December 2008: We’ll get to see initial info and photos for the new Saab 9-5 sedan (Jan 09 – no pics came) February 2009: Motorshow appearance for 9-5 sedan (Jan 09 – not happening) September 2009: 9-5 Sedan on the road February 2010: Launch for the Saab 9-4x September 2010: Saab 9-5 wagon and 9-3x launch (Jan 09 – 9-3x to be shown at Geneva in March 09) 2011: Saab 9-3, written to me as being a facelift 2012: Saab 9-1 launch —— The good news is that there’s news of all four cars in the proposed Saab model range there. The 9-1 right through to the 9-5 with the 9-4x and 9-3x there as well. Whether the 9-1 is actually definite or not at this point is anyone’s guess, but it looks like it’s definitely in the plans and with a date like that being circulated around Djup Strupe it means a decision might be imminent. The bad news could be a calendar-year 2010 launch for the Saab 9-4x (a little later than expected), or a late 2010 launch for the Saab 9-3x (what could possibly take so long??), or maybe the 2011 Saab 9-3 being described as a facelift. However you consider the news, it looks like Saab nuts are going to have to exhibit considerable patience for some time to come. My tip: buy a cheap fun car to throw around in the meantime. ——UPDATE: I’ve received another Djup Strupe email (different DS) indicating that project 540 was earmarked for 2011, meaning that the 9-3 due that year will be the all-new model rather than the ‘facelift’ noted above. I used the word facelift as that’s how it was communicated to me, however the meaning may have been lost in translation. — A recent communication with Saab indicated that they were looking to the XWD 9-3 SportCombi to cross any gap between the 9-7x’s demise and the release of the 9-4x. I’d imagine the correspondent was referring to the 9-3x, which would make sense in that particular market (the US) and this would infer that the 9-3x would be seen some time in 2009. Regarding the 9-3x info from Djup Strupe, above, it’s fair to draw the conclusion that the info doesn’t come from the US market and therefore, that the 9-3x might be released there first and in other markets at a later time depending on the demand they anticipate. –

Saab Car Museum

SCM Support

CardYourCar

By continuing to use the site, you agree to the use of cookies. more information

The cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this.